Actors in the Abuja centenary city project appear to have stepped down their disagreements and finally opted to allow the project commence, writes CHRISTIAN OKEKE.The actors in the Abuja centenary city project comprising the Federal Government through the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) which is coordinating the project, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration and the implementation firm, Centenary City Plc have finally signed the N2.976 trillion (18.6 billion US Dollars) agreement that would see to the commencement of the project. The road to the agreement point was tortuous as was acknowledged by all the parties involved.
For months after an official announcement was made that government was to embark on the project, critics, civil society organisations and other interested parties raised questions. Chief among them was whether the Abuja master plan has provision for the project.
Others wanted to know everything they can get about the ownership of the executing firm, categories of persons who would benefit from the project upon completion, guarantee that it would not amount to white elephant project afterall, capacity of the firm to deliver and the time lime for the project. Also, questions regarding source of funding for the project were raised. All that was the level of interest which the project generated.
Abuja Xtra dug deep to get the contentious issues that literary raised dusts of sort among the actors. The battle lines, the counter position and how the disputes were finally laid to rest were subjects of interest.
From information gathered, there was insistence by FCT administration that its engineering department must be deeply involved if government is to embark on project that would stand the test of time. The administration, in doing so, did not want to enter into unnecessary conflict when it might be forced to roll its bulldozers to demolish the structures which, if allowed to commence “illegally,” may end up not being executed in compliance with the Abuja master plan.
The administration insisted on getting the specifications, approving the designs and making, it not all but substantial revenue from the project. It insisted on getting premium for land and maintaining of five per cent equity share in the project and won the arguments.
Abuja Xtra gathered that the FCT administration equally insisted on being in possession of the minutest details of the project, including those of the executing firm. It was said that officials at Area 11 raised eyebrows over the insistence that the land swap model being currently adopted for infrastructural developments in Abuja would be waved aside for the project.
According to information obtained, an aspect that the FCTA team protested vehemently against has to do with insisting that the administration’s statutory responsibilities regarding the project be hijacked. The team argued at the numerous meetings held over the conflicts that the administration must be accorded its recognition with its powers respected with respect to the project.
Abuja Xtra was told that the FCT minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, who would wish the project to succeed was quite uncomfortable with what was classified as moves that tended to undermine his administration. “The minister would not agree; in fact, you needed to see how sad the minister was, insisting that the right things should be seen to have been done regarding the project despite that fact that the project is a dream child of federal government,” a source told Abuja Xtra.
According to the source, the coordinating office, on its own, would not want encumbrances of any sort coming from FCT administration in executing the project and allegedly carried on during the negotiation time as if it was on a mission to force down a sort of framework on the other actors. “Some things and their intentions were not made as clear as they should, about the project. The process became cumbersome at a time,” said the source.
But in all, all substantial skirmishes were amicable settled. Afterwards, singing date for the agreement was fixed.
The project is envisoned to span a land area of 1, 264 hectares. From plan, it is to be 100 per cent private-sector driven and is expected to be completed in 60 months. It has Sterling Partners and
Price Waterhouse Coopers as its legal and financial partners respectively.
A total of N1.2 billion was paid, being 100 percent compensation for economic trees, to the original inhabitants affected by the project. Structures owned by some non natives and situated on the site were compensated. What remains is relocation of the affected persons.
From the available records, 20 per cent of the plot for the project is earmarked for residential houses while 80 per cent is for mixed use and commercial purposes.
Speaking during the signing ceremony which held at the minister’s conference room at Area 11, Senator Bala Mohammed admitted that the parties involved in the project actually disagreed on a number of things but later reached some agreement as, according to him, government is one and the common vision is that the parties work in tandem with the vision of President Goodluck Jonathan.
On this, the Minister of State for FCT, Jumoke Akinjide commended his colleague for what she described as his courage and patriotism in arguing for the administration, stating that, “When we disagreed and argued, we were only doing our job.”
Continuing, Senator Mohammed noted that due diligence was followed during the negotiation process for the project to ensure that nobody was short-changed and that development of Abuja was accelerated. He noted that the profit to be derived from the project when completed is so huge that it would be difficult to quantify at the moment.
“So you can see that the project is so beneficial that we cannot quantify it at the moment but it will surely increase our GDP,” he said.
The minister disclosed that the firm would build a small city first to use it to showcase what the rest would look like. According to him, the FCT administration targeted making sure that Abuja was brought to new frontier with new employment opportunities.
Senator Mohammed further confirmed that 80 per cent of the project would be for mixed-use and commercial purposes. He noted that all the necessary risk analysis necessary for the project was carried out while periodic brief on the project would be considered.
He also assured that there was no compensation challenge for indigenes regarding the project, noting that outstanding issue was some houses that would still be subjected to delineation after which necessary payments would be effected.
The minister said, “The indigenes are happy. We give dignity and respect to humanity. It is no longer business as usual because of private sector involvement. The project is also different from the land swap policy as it is Federal Government’s project.”
Responding, chief executive of the firm, Dr. Ike Michael assured that the project would be completed within the stipulated time. He gave reassurance on the capacity of his company to deliver and stated that the territory would be the topmost beneficiary when the project is eventually executed.
With the hurdles seemingly over, it is now left to be seen whether the firm would live up to the trust reposed on it. Whether the poor would also benefit from the project equally remains to be seen.
No comments:
Post a Comment